2001-2005 Bachelor of Life Sciences: University of Science and Technology of China
2005-2008 Master of Genetics: Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
2008-2013 PhD in Plant Genomics: University of Delaware
2009-2011 Master of Statistics: University of Delaware
2011-2013 Master of Computational Biology: University of Delaware
Recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (2023)
2016 - Present: Associate Professor, Southern University of Science and Technology
2013 - 2016: Postdoctoral Researcher, University of California, Los Angeles
2023: National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars
2021: Weizhong Young Innovator Award, Chinese Society of Plant Physiology and Molecular Biology
2017: Leader of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Team, Guangdong Province
Research
Gene transcription in animals and plants mRNA stability Development of single-molecule full-length transcriptomics methods Regulation of transcription extension, intron splicing, transcription termination, and poly(A) tail length
Single-nucleus transcriptomes reveal spatiotemporal symbiotic perception and early response in Medicago, Liu Z, Yang J, Long Y, Zhang C, Wang D, Zhang X, Dong W, Zhao L, Liu C, Zhai J, Wang E, 2023
Cell type–specific cytonuclear coevolution in three allopolyploid plant species, Zhang K, Zhao X, Zhao Y, Zhang Z, Liu Z, Liu Z, Yu Y, Li J, Ma Y, Dong Y, Pang X, Jin X, Li N, Liu B, Wendel JF, Zhai J, Long Y, Wang T, Gong L, 2023
Single-molecule targeted accessibility and methylation sequencing of centromeres, telomeres and rDNAs in Arabidopsis, Mo W, Shu Y, Liu B, Long Y, Li T, Cao X, Deng X, Zhai J, 2023
Integrated single-nucleus and spatial transcriptomics captures transitional states in soybean nodule maturation, Liu Z, Kong X, Long Y, Liu S, Zhang H, Jia J, Cui W, Zhang Z, Song X, Qiu L, Zhai J, Yan Z, 2023
MCIBox: A Toolkit for Single-molecule Multi-way Chromatin Interaction Visualization and Micro-Domains Identification, Tian S, Li G, Ning D, Jing K, Xu Y, Yang Y, Fullwood MJ, Yin P, Huang G, Plewczynski D, Wang W, Zhai J, Wang Z, Dai Z, Lin Y, Chen W, Zheng M, 2022
Plant Intron-Splicing Efficiency Database (PISE): exploring splicing of ~1,650,000 introns in Arabidopsis, maize, rice and soybean from ~57,000 public RNA-seq libraries, Zhang H, Jia J, Zhai J, 2022
Interplay of phytohormones and epigenetic regulation: a recipe for plant development and plasticity, Jiang K, Guo H, Zhai J, 2022
Genome-wide characterization of nascent RNA processing in plants, Qin Y, Long Y, Zhai J, 2022
An atlas of plant full-length RNA reveals tissue-specific and monocots–dicots conserved regulation of poly(A) tail length, Jia J, Lu W, Liu B, Fang H, Yu Y, Mo W, Zhang H, Jin X, Shu Y, Long Y, Pei Y, Zhai J, 2022
Safeguard DCL2-Dependent 22-nt siRNA generation by DCL1, Lu D, Feng L, Zhai J, Li B, Xi M, 2022
Pore-C Simultaneously Captures Genome-wide Multi-way Chromatin Interaction and Associated DNA Methylation Status in Arabidopsis, Li Z, Long Y, Yu Y, Zhang F, Zhang H, Liu Z, Jia J, Mo W, Tian SZ, Zheng M, Zhai J, 2022
Plant Public RNA-seq Database: a comprehensive online database for expression analysis of ~45 000 plant public RNA-Seq libraries, Yu Y, Zhang H, Long Y, Shu Y, Zhai J, 2022
Regulation of DNA Methylation During Plant Endosperm Development, Lu D, Zhai J, Xi M, 2022
Landscape of transcription termination in Arabidopsis revealed by single-molecule nascent RNA sequencing, Mo W, Liu B, Zhang H, Jin X, Lu D, Yu Y, Liu Y, Jia J, Long Y, Deng X, Cao X, Guo H, Zhai J, 2021
MicroRNA482/2118, a miRNA superfamily essential for both disease resistance and plant development, Zhang Y, Waseem M, Zeng Z, Xu J, Chen C, Liu Y, Zhai J, Xia R, 2021
Mechanism of siRNA production by a plant Dicer-RNA complex in dicing-competent conformation, Wang Q, Xue Y, Zhang L, Zhong Z, Feng S, Wang S, Xiao L, Yang Z, Harris CJ, Wu Z, Zhai J, Yang M, Li S, Jacobsen SE, Du J, 2021
FLEP-seq: simultaneous detection of RNA polymerase II position, splicing status, polyadenylation site and poly(A) tail length at genome-wide scale by single-molecule nascent RNA sequencing, Long Y, Jia J, Mo W, Jin X, Zhai J, 2021
Multiplex CRISPR-Cas9 editing of DNA methyltransferases in rice uncovers a class of non-CG methylation specific for GC-rich regions, Hu D, Yu Y, Wang C, Long Y, Liu Y, Feng L, Lu D, Liu B, Jia J, Xia R, Du J, Zhong X, Gong L, Wang K, Zhai J, 2021
Substrate deformation regulates DRM2-mediated DNA methylation in plants, Fang J, Leichter SM, Jiang J, Biswal M, Lu J, Zhang Z, Ren W, Zhai J, Cui Q, Zhong X, Song J, 2021
Small RNAs in Plant Immunity and Virulence of Filamentous Pathogens, Qiao Y, Xia R, Zhai J, Hou Y, Feng L, Zhai Y, Ma W, 2021
sRNAanno—a database repository of uniformly annotated small RNAs in plants, Chen C, Li J, Feng J, Liu B, Feng L, Yu X, Li G, Zhai J, Meyers BC, Xia R, 2021
FlsnRNA-seq: protoplasting-free full-length single-nucleus RNA profiling in plants, Long Y, Liu Z, Jia J, Mo W, Fang L, Lu D, Liu B, Zhang H, Chen W, Zhai J, 2021
The chromatin will never forget, Yu Y, Zhai J, 2020
The antagonistic MYB paralogs RH1 and RH2 govern anthocyanin leaf markings in Medicago truncatula, Wang C, Ji W, Liu Y, Zhou P, Meng Y, Zhang P, Wen J, Mysore KS, Zhai J, Young ND, Tian Z, Niu L, Lin H, 2020
Soybean Dicer-Like 2 Regulates Seed Coat Color via Production of Primary 22-nt Small Interfering RNAs from Long Inverted Repeats, Jia J, Ji R, Li Z, Yu Y, Nakano M, Long Y, Feng L, Qin C, Lu D, Zhan J, Xia R, Meyers BC, Liu B, Zhai J, 2020
A comprehensive online database for exploring ∼20,000 public Arabidopsis RNA-Seq libraries, Zhang H, Zhang F, Yu Y, Feng L, Jia J, Liu B, Li B, Guo H, Zhai J, 2020
Post-transcriptional splicing of nascent RNA contributes to widespread intron retention in plants, Jia J, Long Y, Zhang H, Li Z, Liu Z, Zhao Y, Lu D, Jin X, Deng X, Xia R, Cao X, Zhai J, 2020
The characterization of Mediator 12 and 13 as conditional positive gene regulators in Arabidopsis, Liu Q, Bischof S, Harris CJ, Zhong Z, Zhan L, Nguyen C, Rashoff A, Barshop WD, Sun F, Feng S, Potok M, Gallego-Bartolome J, Zhai J, Wohlschlegel JA, Carey MF, Long JA, Jacobsen SE, 2020
Plant 22-nt siRNAs mediate translational repression and stress adaptation, Wu H, Li B, Iwakawa HO, Pan Y, Tang X, Ling-Hu Q, Liu Y, Sheng S, Feng L, Zhang H, Zhang X, Tang Z, Xia X, Zhai J, Guo H, 2020
The Dynamic Kaleidoscope of RNA Biology in Plants, Bailey-Serres J, Zhai J, Seki M, 2020
An online database for exploring over 2,000 Arabidopsis small RNA libraries, Feng L, Zhang F, Zhang H, Zhao Y, Meyers BC, Zhai J, 2020
